The electron: 'Round round get around, I am so round'

A 10-year study has revealed that the electron is very spherical indeed.

To be precise, the electron differs from being perfectly round
by less than 0.000000000000000000000000001 cm. To put that in
context; if an electron was the size of the solar system, it would be out from being perfectly round by
less than the width of a human hair.

The Imperal College team behind the research, which was
conducted on molecules of ytterbium
flouride, used a laser to make measurements of the motion of
electrons, and in particular the wobble they exhibit when spinning.
They observed no such wobble, implying that the electron is
perfectly round at the levels of precision available, reflected in
the figure above.

The co-author of the report describing the research, Jony
Hudson, said: "We're really pleased that we've been able to improve
our knowledge of one of the basic building blocks of matter. It's
been a very difficult measurement to make, but this knowledge will
let us improve our theories of fundamental physics. People are
often surprised to hear that our theories of physics aren't
'finished', but in truth they get constantly refined and improved
by making ever more accurate measurements like this one."

The next step is to up that precision level even further, using
new methods to cool the molecules to extremely low temperatures
and control their motion. The results are important in the study of
antimatter, and particularly the positron -- which should
behave identically to the electron but with an opposite electrical
charge. If more differences can be found, it could help to explain
why far less antimatter has been discovered in the Universe than
predicted by theory.